A Closer Look at Jan Bartels’ “For Sale”

Jan Bartels is an independent filmmaker based in Munich, Germany. He is a writer, director, and camera operator, with a passion for telling stories the way he sees them. This is why Bartels often does the heavy-lifting in his own films, overseeing all the artistic details necessary to carry out his vision. For Sale is a humorous dark action comedy, following the story of a robbery gone wrong.

The film begins at an old house, where two sisters meet to decide on the future of the property once belonging to their deceased parents. The tension starts from the beginning, as we are exposed to the deep seeded resentments the sisters have for one another. Kathrin, performed by co-producer and co-writer Sonja Welter, plays the role of the selfish greedy sister who wants to sell the house and turn an overnight profit through a business scheme. Susan, performed by Melanie Scheytt, is the sentimental empathic character who wants to hold on to the property to value the family history they have there. This is a great expository scheme in the narrative, as the characters fundamentally oppose one another with regard to motive, yet they are siblings and their fates seem inevitably intertwined.

On the other side of town, two brothers, Carl and Tom alongside their accomplice Rob are staging a robbery of two gang members transporting a bag with $500,000 cash in it. What was supposed to be an easy stick up turns into a murderous showdown that gets Tom shot and the group scrambling to find a safe haven to clear the air and follow through with the next steps. They find the house for sale, and break in under the false pretence of potential clients and hold the sisters hostage, hoping that until Tom recovers Carl comes up with a plan of escape.

Markus Fisher’s performance, the German actor portraying Carl is the highlight of the film. The experienced actor leads the performance with a cold and dry attitude fitting for this German action comedy. Bartels does a great job in creating subtle comedic moments—overt dramatics and obvious threatening one-liners engage viewers in an odd way, making us question the seriousness of the action and the plausibility of the comedy at such moments. A great comedic standout is Recardo Koppe’s performance as Rob, the third member of the gang who turns against the brothers and tries to escape the house with the money bag. Rob’s character is too much and too little at the same time, when he’s there he’s a lot to deal with yet we still want to see more of him. Kudos to Bartels and Welter for writing these characters in a way that in the utmost serious moments, we can find a comedic silver lining that makes us invested in the film as a whole. The two gang members, Dozer and Teddy performed by Torsten Wiebel and Bernhard Braun are a wonderful duet. They are fine performers, and their heavy set hyper-masculine personas make for a great comedic punch in the middle of an action-packed thrilling sequence.

The directing benefits greatly from sharp cuts, nice crisp sound, and calculated takes. The twists and turns of the story do well to keep you on the edge of your seats, and the character developments and dynamics provide the necessary tensions needed for a good thrill. The title For Sale is an interesting opening to the world Bartels attempts to create, where greed and materialism outweigh morality and loyalty. On the surface, it is a fitting title as the film’s majority is shot in the house that is up for sale. In the subtext, we can easily see how the title means more than it reads. The sisterhood is up for sale as Kathrin will do anything, including murdering someone, and leaving her sister behind in the village to run away with the bag. Rob will turn his back on his two friends and try to escape with the bag. Ironically, the highlighted loyalty we see in the film is through Carl’s character and Susan’s. No further spoilers here.

At the end, it is also an surprising and welcoming love story, capturing our imaginations that love can be found in unusual places and unexpected situations. The film’s ending comes with the lacing of tragedy and comedy, a bitter death followed by a sweet outcome.